Fire Arizona Sheriff Who Refused to Investigate Child Molesters

Over the course of three years, Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona allowed over 400 sex crime allegations go uninvestigated, including 32 cases of child molestation. In El Mirage, where Arpaio's office was providing contract services, Arpaio neglected to bring justice to victims as young as 2.

Many of the victims are children of undocumented immigrants.

El Mirage Detective Jerry Laird busted Arpaio to ThinkProgress after noticing that so many of his investigations had not been followed up by the sheriff's department. "I think that at some point . . . they put their feet on the desk, and that was that," Laird said.

Arpaio was recently tapped for his endorsement by Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry specifically for his anti-immigration stance, according to the Washington Post. Tell Maricopa County that not investigating sex crimes based on the victims' immigration status is not simply illegal; it is downright immoral.

We the undersigned are appalled that Sheriff Joe Arpaio could know of 32 child molestation cases in El Mirage, Arizona and take no action. One of the children in these cases is a mere two years old. Sheriff Arpaio is sheriff, and it is his job to fully investigate reports of child abuse, no matter where they occur. For Sheriff Arpaio to go so public with his anti-immigrant politics while allowing undocumented children in El Mirage to suffer when he was under contract specifically to protect them smacks of a conflict of interest. Please remove Sheriff Arpaio from office immediately.